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The Shining Customer Reviews (127 - 129 of 131 Reviews)

Possibly the Best Horror Movie Ever
This was a spectacular piece of work. It had a chilling soundtrack, and had some very good camera work. In the case of the Shining, a movie has finally exceeded the book upon which it was based. Things that would normally make a movie terrible have made the Shining a spellbinding movie. For example, the dialogue throughout the entire movie seems forced and unnatural. Another example is during an argument between Jack Nicholson (who performs incredibly well throughout the entire movie) and Shelley Duvall, after which Jack storms out of the room and glances at the camera as he goes by. If you're a horror fan, or just into movies, this is definetely one to see again and again and again.

Heeeere's Johnny! A modern horror classic on DVD
It's tough to believe that Stanley Kubrick received a Worst Director Razzie nomination for "The Shining." While "The Shining" may not be given the classic status of some of his other films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001", it's actually the least polarizing of this highly-praised and atypical filmmaker's work.

This atmospheric thriller is sure to creep you out with its pacing, eery editing and cinematography (those tracking shots are highly effective), and Jack Nicholson's powerful performance as Jack Torrance. Horror films often tend to divide audiences into genre fans who follow the gore and those who laugh in the face of so-called scares, insisting their own resiliancy to cheap thrills and lamebrain plotting.

Fortunately, "The Shining" doesn't make you take sides, because its chills come from plotting and character study as much as they do from odd sights that will make you jump. It may stray from Stephen King's book and not all of it may make sense, but "The Shining" has so much going for it that you won't mind. It's a gripping and satisfying film experience, and in my opinion, one of the best films of the '80s.

This Warner DVD re-release is definitely the version to get. The fullframe presentation comes at the wishes of Kubrick and the video and audio offer significant improvement over the drab initial release. (Unfortunately, the original Mono audio track has been dropped altogether in favor of an effective 5.1 remix. They could have included both with no problem.)

In the way of extras, there is an engaging half-hour on-set documentary, filmed by Kubrick's daughter Vivian. It provides a candid experience of the film's creation, and interviews with some of the actors. In addition, this DVD re-release includes an audio commentary on the documentary (sort of a "making-of the making-of") by Vivian Kubrick. There's also the spooky trailer, which shows how a movie preview can perfectly pique one's interest in a film, without spoiling (or even saying) much.

SHINING IS DULL
Just goes to show you that even Stanley Kubrick can get into something he can't master. I so anticipated this film I even held my nose and read the stupid novel. I like fright films and hoped that the Shining would equal or surpass the Haunting as the quintessential thinking mans horror.
Instead we got a Jack Nicholson movie.
I think Nicholson is one of the best if not THE best actor of my time and I enjoy his performance here but do you see what happened - the focus shifted to the films star because the directors performance went flat.
I was amazed that Kubrick chose to flat out show you the "horrors" instead of suggest them which would have enabled them to grow dimensionally in the imagination of the viewer. Maybe some people find those little girls disturbing or the gallons of blood but if you don't where else can you go?
The atmosphere was more institutional feeling than frightening and that silly voice repeating "redrum" ( an asinine devise old as the hills - spelling a key word backwards ) actually made me laugh.
If you're thinking of seeing this on the strength of Kubricks name I suppose there'll be no stopping you but think Barry Lyndon not Clcokwork Orange.
If your a Stephen King fan you'll love it - it's a total bore.

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